


Nemesis

by MelonYellow



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M, Nebulous Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-21 18:30:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8255978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelonYellow/pseuds/MelonYellow
Summary: Erik knew he could just turn back, sit in his co-pilot seat again and no one would ever know.





	1. Chapter 1

Erik knew he could just turn back, sit in his co-pilot seat again and no one would ever know.

Erik could go back to Chicago and the Brotherhood. He could just turn back here and go on with his life. He already had the answer for the months spent in this desperate hunt. His answer was right there before his eyes. Making polite small talk and moving boxes from the plane to the back of an old truck. His hair was as fluffy as Erik remembered, his complexion looked healthier, there were more freckles and a light tan of someone who actually stayed outside instead of a library for once. And the eyes, these clear pools of cerulean blue that always enthralled Erik. He could lose himself in these eyes. For nights and days. At one time, for all eternity. Yet none of Charles’ virtues were holding his attention. _Moving._ Erik’s mind was overwhelmed, thus between fight or flight his body chose none. 

Charles had a nightmare last night. He woke up with an uneasy feeling between his lungs, pressing his chest. He could not deny that some days were better than others, but today was none of them. He almost stayed home, within its walls and false sense of safeness. The only reason he hadn’t was that today Toriel would bring his packages. It was inevitable. But the ominous feeling stayed with him. It was the single puffin he saw from his window. It was the heavy clouded sky. It was the wind whipping the green field. Not even Toriel and his jokes could shake the feeling.

Charles was nodding along but not really paying attention to anything Toriel was saying until his brain highlighted one word: foreigner. Charles opened his mouth to question when his peripheral vision caught something else inside the plane.

"...he didn't even bring much baggage. I said he would be cold out here. But you know how foreigners are, always thinking they know better..."

Charles' heart skipped a beat as the known silhouette came to light. Not that any light was necessary. In the darkest of the places at the darkest of the hours he would know. There were new lines around the familiar gray eyes, his auburn hair was longer, almost curls tangling in the wind. Standing there looking so effortless cool one could understand why so many chose to follow him and his ideals. _His fight_. Erik was still the most beautiful man Charles has ever seen. And the ugliest one. His true nemesis. 

"Oh. He said he was an old friend of yours." Toriel subtly confirmed. He was a good man, and his worries about Charles's geographic solitude made sense. It was a small comfort in the present situation.

"He is." Charles breathed without taking his eyes off Erik.

"I am." Erik claimed at the same time. "An old one." He added inside his turmoil.

Erik visualized this moment in his mind a hundred times. All he would say. All he would do. All the answers that were rightfully _his_ and that were robbed from him. But not in one of these hundred times he could have been prepared for the load of conflicted emotions he was bearing. His lungs burned and his heart smashed against his ribs over and over again. This was the true power of one Charles Xavier.

"Well, if everything is okay we should get going. Not that your company isn't a pleasure, Charles, but there's a storm coming and you know how old this plane is." Toriel explained giving a pat to Charles' shoulder. "Stay well, and see you in two months." He said giving one last look to Erik.

"Goodbye, my friend. Have a safe flight back." Charles busied himself rearranging the packages. This here was the worst part. When they recovered themselves. Every time in the past that their paths intersected there was this second of two strangers meeting again. This sole bit of time that they could permit being strangers to each other. Charles wanted nothing more than maintain this illusion for as long as possible. At the same time, he wanted nothing more than shatter it in one million pieces.

"Where should I put my bags?" Erik asked beside him.

"Anywhere is fine." Charles patted the boxes one last time before turning his attention to Erik's bags. He had the urge to rearrange them too but decided to not push his luck. 

"I highly doubt that." Erik dryly remarked. 

Charles glared indignantly in return, and oh, what a fool’s mistake. This eyes. This smug half smile. This handsome face. He missed this man so dearly. More than anything. More than anyone.

Erik was trying to keep his composure. He really was. And yet Charles was at hand's distance. His hand itched at his side and was only the uncertainty that stopped him. Uncertainty of what would happen once his hands touched Charles' skin. Would he drag Charles to him or to the dirty ground.

The sky cut off their musings with a loud rumble.

"We should get going before the storm reach us." Charles advised looking at the dark sky.

"Yes, we should." Erik hoarsely agreed looking at Charles’ stretched throat.

The ride was silent. Both plagued by their minds and the physical barrier the car imposed. One they couldn't pretend being unaffected to.

"You're driving better than what I remember." Erik started because the silence was too much to handle. Too heavy. Too claustrophobic. And because calm temper wasn't something he was famous for. "But then again, _that_ was long ago."

Charles huffed and tried to concentrate on the road. He knew this would happen the moment they saw each other. Maybe he should praise Erik’s mental discipline for enduring this long.

"Erik, don't start it. Please."

"I thought you were over _this_ years ago, Charles." Erik scorned. There was so much rage and disdain in his words but beneath all one could hear the notes of the heartbreak betrayal. Erik was always a man that felt too much, for the better and for the worse.

"You thought a lot of things, my friend." Charles stated without taking his eyes out of the road.

"Damn it, Charles! Just tell me why? Why would you do this shit again?!" Erik exploded punching the truck's door. Uncoincidentally the car started to vibrate.

"Calm down, Erik. The road is narrow as it is." Charles pleaded avoiding the matter altogether.

Erik breathed letting go of the surrounding metal. He could see the firsts raindrops getting plastered to his window. The storm was getting closer and closer to them. It was unavoidable.

.  
.  
.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Where exactly are we, Charles?” Erik asked eyeing the old wooden barn in front of them.
> 
> “Well, my friend, this is as far as the truck goes.” Charles explained. 
> 
> “What?” And then Erik seemed to connect the dots. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

"I know I have an extra raincoat somewhere around here." Charles was rambling. 

"There's no need. I think I can handle a little bit of rain, Charles." Erik dryly inputted. 

"Nonsense." Charles bit his lip worrying. "Ah ha! Here it is!" And so caught was Charles in his task that he miscalculated how little was the physical space they actually shared. Charles could feel the heat emanating from Erik’s skin, the puff of breaths he was exhaling, the scent of his aftershave. How his eyes were so beautiful and also so full of the unspoken between them.

"I should go." Charles all but threw himself out of the car.

Erik examined the raincoat in his hands for a long minute. Charles had this ability to shake his core without even trying. He made sure the tremor in his hands had stopped before stepping outside. The first thing that hit him was the violent wind. Whipping everything in its path. And the second was that the raincoat was useless against the storm. 

Charles was staring blindly at the rain. He was suffering sensory overload. It was too much. Too close. Too real. Little gasps of air left his shaken body. Lungs burning with every breath. He knew he should move. He had to. 

_Calm your mind_. 

Charles could feel his clothes getting plastered to his skin, wetter and wetter. The storm did caught them. Standing there in the rain Charles felt cold. 

“Are you planning to die from pneumonia before we get to the house, Charles? Erik snapped. 

“I am finishing unlocking these doors.” Charles justified. “You should have stayed inside the truck, my friend.” 

“Yes, I should but I didn’t.” Erik could feel water pooling inside his boots. “Do you mind?” Erik not so much asked as warned Charles to get out of the way. It was satisfactory to use his powers at the chains, and if he used a little more force than was needed Charles didn’t comment. Also, the truck was levitated inside the old barn just because. 

The distance wasn’t great, but the storm was relentless. Charles slipped and almost fell for the third time in the last minute. Erik had asked the reason why they couldn’t just stay inside the old barn instead of facing the storm. Just until things got a little calmer. Charles just gave a half-assed excuse. The truth, the one he didn’t want to admit aloud, was that he was thankful for the storm. The nature was giving him an alibi. One he could hide himself in. He knew the storm wouldn’t hid him forever, but Charles was a coward, and any time away from _that_ he would grab with both hands.

Erik was standing there a little lost at Charles’ stubbornness. The storm was merciless, yet Charles didn’t shrink, didn’t so much hesitate, going agaisnt the storm in all its fury.

A part deep inside Erik, the one he had tried to eradicate so many times over the years, felt a strange pride. His chest swelling up in the alien warmth. At the same time another part, louder, felt rage. 

_How dare you_. 

Erik was tempted to let his rage take over. It was familiar. It gave him strength. It gave him purpose. When he had nothing else, he could always rely on his rage. But was the confused part that reigned in. There was something essential missing in this picture Erik was seeing. Something that didn’t fit. 

“What are you hiding?” Erik caught Charles’ arm demanding his attention. 

“W...what?” Charles sputtered startled by the straightforward gaze. A dreadful feeling travelling his spine. 

Erik took the fear embedded in Charles’s eyes, rain making them more enticing if that was even possible, as a sign to dig deeper. _Something indeed was wrong_. 

“Don’t lie to me, Charles.”

“I’m not.” Charles objected. He tried to free himself, but that only caused Erik to hold him harder. For one second Charles had the absolute certainty that Erik could see everything, all his darkest secrets overflowing, the deepest corners of his soul exposed. Should he ask for forgiveness or retaliate? One of the paths was easier, something he was familiar with, and that would simplify all their troubles. He was used to beg on his knees for Erik. Again, and again, and again. It was what altruists did.

In that moment, with the pouring rain making difficult to see, with Erik mere centimeters away, he fervently wished he could.

“Do you really want to do this here, in this storm?” Charles challenged. 

Erik mused how the rain favoured Charles, accentuating his features. How much bluer was his azure eyes, how much redder was his luscious lips. His alabaster skin gleamed, little raindrops travelling down his throat. The useless raincoat didn’t stop his shirt becoming see-through, highlighting his petite yet toned figure. Even wet Charles was breathtaking. 

Erik let his arm go as an answer. “Can you even see where you are going?” 

“For both our sakes, I hope so.” 

 

….  
Charles’s boat was ridiculous small. Erik couldn’t even stand straight inside the damn thing. And there were Charles’s packages and Erik’s baggages they had to fit somehow around them in the small covered space. 

“Are you sure they didn’t give you the children's edition boat, Charles?” Erik mocked. 

Charles wished he could return the jab, if only Erik’s body wasn't practically wrapped around him. 

“Can you sense the metal?” Charles questioned trying to clear his mind.

“Yeah, the motor is old, I don’t even know how this garbage still works.” 

“No, not the boat. The house. We must be near it.”

“Are you asking for my help, Charles?” Erik drawled with hints of humour, puffs of breath warming Charles’ right ear. 

“Yes, Erik, I am.” An exasperated Charles replied. “Do you or do you not feel it?”

Maybe was Charles less than cordial tone or maybe was the pain on his back for staying hunched for so long, but Erik decided to cooperate. He focused on his power, spreading it slowly outside the boat in all directions, trying to find any trace of metal. Charles was right, they couldn’t see it in the heavy rain but they were close. 

“We are on the right direction. Yes, I was surprised too.” Erik ignored Charles glare. 

As they came closer, Erik could feel the house better. It was different from what he was expecting from Charles and definitely wasn’t Xavier’s estate style. But then again, nothing was in the current situation. 

They were finally in their destination, yet Charles felt no relief. His insides churned as the distance between them and the house decreased. Soon, there would be no distance at all. 

 

 

 

Charles opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there, handsome fellow. This is my first fanfic and english isn't my first language, so please, be rough. ;3 
> 
> The timeline of this fic follows the MCU but disregards some of the canon events. Sometimes for valid reasons, and sometimes because the author is shallow, a.k.a Charles' hair.


End file.
